Carbon pollution from power plants is affecting climate change

Extreme weather events are on the rise, and scientists warn that global warming will bring even more extreme weather in the future ("Derecho and heat wave in review: records, rankings, and by the numbers," July 9). We know that power plants are the largest single source of the carbon pollution fueling climate change, but for too long power plants haven't had any federal limits on how much carbon they can spew into the air.

President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency are working to fix this. They've proposed the first-ever carbon pollution standards for new power plants — a truly historic step toward cleaning up the largest single source of carbon pollution and helping guard against more extreme weather around the country.

A record number of Americans have already spoken out in support of the proposed standards and to urge the EPA to finish the job on standards for new power plants and also to develop standards for existing ones as well. Our safety and our environment are both depending on it.